Tree-protector.



N6.742,431. I PATENTBD OCT. 2?, 1903.

11. H. B. HOOPER. TREE PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11. 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented October 27, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

TREE-PROTECTO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 742,431, dated October 27, 1903.

Application filed February II 1903. Serial No. 142,960. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL H. B. HOOPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Biddeford, in the county of York-and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tree-Protectors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in tree-protectors, and more particularly to the kind that are expansible without removal to accommodate the increasing size of the tree.

It relates to the structure of the fabric which forms the protector and to means for securing it to the tree.

In the drawings herewith accompanying and making a part of this application, Figure 1 is a perspective View of my protector applied to a tree. Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of a portion of the protector fabric, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the blank from which the lacing-clip is formed.

My improved protector is made of flexible wire A, which is first bent into a ribbon of serpentine form and then into sections B of the required width by bending the ribbon transversely to its length back and forth until the fabric thus formed is of sufficient height, substantially as shown in Fig. 2. At either edge 0 of the fabric thus formed there will be adjacent sections occurring regularly, which are disconnected at'the edges. These may be united in anyconvenient manner and the fabric secured to the tree in any convenient manner. I do not intend hereby to limit myself to any particular method of uniting the sections or of securing the fabric to the tree. I have shown in Figs. 2 and 3 a device which serves the double purpose of uniting the sections and securing the fabric to the tree. This consists of a lacing-clip adapted to extend across the space between the adjoining sections and provided with prongs D, adapted to be secured to the sections, and a hook E to receive a lacing-wire F. It will be seen that from the method of forming the fabric these lacing-hooks on each edge of the fabric will alternate, as shown in Fig. 1, so that when the lacing-wire is applied it will take a zigzag course. It will be evident that the lacing-wire may be dispensed with when the fabric is to extend entirely around the tree, the hook engaging the wire of the fabric.

The advantages of my improved tree-protector are that it is cheap, easily constructed, and readily applied to and removed from the tree. It is also readily and compactly packed for shipping, being adapted to be shipped in a flat web and bent when applied to the tree. It may wholly surround the tree when it is necessary or partially surround it when itis only necessary to protect one side of the tree. In consequence of the serpentine form of the ribbon it readily expands as the tree increases in size.

Having thus described my invention and its use, I claim 1. A tree-protector consisting of a laterally-expansible fabric of wire bent first into a ribbon of serpentine form and then into a series of sections one above the other, the successive sections being unconnected except at the edge of the fabric, and means for attaching the fabric to a tree.

2. A tree-protector consisting of a laterally-expansible fabric bent first into a ribbon of serpentine form and then into a series of sections one above the other, the successive sections being unconnected except at the edge of the fabric, means for securing the adjacent sections together at the edges of the fabric and means for attaching the fabric to a tree.

3. A tree-protector consisting of an expansible fabric formed of wire bent first into a ribbon of serpentine form and then into a series of sections one above the other, clips attached to and uniting the adjacent sections at the edge and provided with lacing-hooks.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 9th day of February, 1903.

DANIEL H. B. HOOPER.

In presence of ELGIN O. VERRILL, NATHAN CLIFFORD. 

